Is it me or is hiring at Kaiser Permanente a joke?

I interviewed a bit ago for a job that I thought may be a shoe in.

I was notified via manager that she wanted to hire me! But has to go through HR and check my references.

I was told I'd hear from HR in a day, they are desperate.

I NEVER got a call. I called the hiring manager who was MIFFED to say the least. She was very adamant that they should of called.

She asked me to follow up with HR for the rest of document.

I never heard from HR, it's been 5 days after interview. I called today and was asked

"were you directed to call me?" .. Yes.. ? I was.

I was told that they will get back to me regarding checking my reference and it can take..

READY?? 2-4 weeks.

Are you frigging kidding me? I laughed when the HR person told me that. I apologized, but I said, I am seeking employement at several locations.. I don't know how to proceed if this is the standard.

IS KAISER JUST A FLIPPING JOKE?

:jester: I feel like it is. How in the heck do you get hired?? No wonder they have the same jobs listed for months at a time online. Now , I know why. Nobody can get in.

31 Answers

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
MsBlissful said:
I was notified via manager that she wanted to hire me! But has to go through HR and check my references..

Unfortunately, it's not an official job offer unless it comes from HR, so even if the manager says she is "desperate" to hire you she still has to wait on HR to do their bit. And yes, at any facility it can really take several weeks to complete employment, reference and background checks: it took about a month for my prior job (not Kaiser) to complete all of that so they could make me an offer. In the meantime, you should keep applying to other jobs.

I'm sorry you're having a hard time.

I once attempted to get a job with them. Don't remember the circumstances of their "don't call us, we won't call you", but I do vaguely recollect that I played hell trying to find the office where I needed to go. Everyone acted as if it was top secret information, only to be disclosed to the third place removed cousin of the nation's president's mother-in-law. I was sorry I had even bothered. And I was very well qualified for the job. Sad for me at the time.

Specializes in Hospice, ONC, Tele, Med Surg, Endo/Output.

Be glad they didn't get back to you. Kaiser is extremely fussy, and working for them is an absolute nightmare. The only good thing about Kaiser is they pay very well, and with the way they treat their staff, they still don't pay enough.

Trust me, HR departments are the same the world over, and not just the nursing world either.

The one you ran up against is just par for the course.

Another rule of thumb is the bigger the organization, the more of a mess HR is.

Specializes in ER.

Not just Kaiser, I have had HR take anywhere from 2 to 8 weeks completing the entire background and reference checks, UDS arrangements, etc.

Seems the bigger the organization, the longer it takes.

At least you got an email concerning your application. After I had been directed to go to the office I wasn't able to find without the secret decoder ring, I ended up with a rejection that could just as easily have been given to me on my first contact. I came away from the experience thinking that the runaround was deliberate and everyone knew it was for a lost cause before it started. That is, everyone except me, the prospective new "employee".

I had a CM position for an insurer runaround involving HR. I had passed all the testing with flying colors, they had informed me as much higher scores than most applicants. BTW, I was surprised at being tested too as I was not informed of tests before hand. This HR woman chatted me up for weeks, we seemed to really hit it off. I finally got called in for a face to face, and from the security guard to the HR woman to the actual nursing management I met that day, I have never met such a continuous group of nut-jobs in all my working life.

It began within two minutes of my arrival with HR. She actually looked down at my resume and said, "Oh! you cannot interview for this job, you do not meet the requrements for this position!" :uhoh3: WHAT? Funny that I had applied in-depth online telling them where each and every freckle was located on my body (joke - for those of you who need to be told that it's a joke), Gone over every minutia of the same during my first contact call, aced all the testing. I then wasted the rest of the obligatory interview process by meeting their totally nutball staff. Actually glad they recinded first, because I'd have had to think long and hard about working with them if I had an offer.

Huge waste of my time all that was.

Trying getting a job with the Govt... You'd be looking at 6-12months easy!

Hmmmm let me tell you my story with Kaiser. I was interviewing with alot of different hospitals as a new grad. The interview with Kaiser felt really good....they finally called me. HR told me I got the position, started taking my RN license number and other information. In the middle of our phone call, i get an "uh oh" from the HR lady on the phone and her next statement was "I'm sorry, but you weren't hired after all. I made a mistake...you were only chosen as an alternate should the other candidates decline their position". Can you imagine how crushed I was???? Pretty much offered a job and taken away within 5 mins....so look on the bright side, at least they spared you that...lol

Well, let me tell you about my HR experience. Now I was already IN the company. I was working for AT&T and I was a first line manager, Tier I network support. I got a job offer for Tier II network support, a promotion from first line to second line manager. The hiring manager wanted me, he basically told me he was going to offer me the job, verbally that is.

Now, from the date he told me that it took 3 months, that is not 1, not 2 but 3 MONTHS for HR to allow him to formally offer me the job. He told me that he had to jump through hoops to convince them that I was a good fit for the job. Apparently at AT&T the expectation is that a first line manager has to put in a certain amount of time before they can be promoted. Make their bones, sheesh. I had been a first line for 1 1/2 years, that was not considered enough time for me to progress. He finally convinced them and I got the job. As far as I know, from my peers, my superiors and my clients, I was a good fit. So thats my experience with the HR game. :rolleyes:

Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Part of background check is getting reference checks completed--usual time frame is 2-4 weeks as it's rare for reference contacts to return phone calls and my organization only requir es 2! Last 3 staff I hired took 8 weeks with multiple calls to applicant to contact their references and get them to return HR's call.

A typical hosptial has at least 25 applicants your juggling...

I know how you feel. I was hired by an eager Department Manager with a Kaiser outpatient facility. It took 5 weeks before I actually started, meanwhile I turned down another hospital offer to go with the Golden Egg Kaiser. The initial Kaiser welcome orientation was like a fairy tale. Unfortunately it was no happy ending once I was on the floor. The nurses I trained with we're to put it nicely, evil. They wanted me to fail and set me up to make me look incompetent. I guess i wasn't who they wanted in their house, so they snuffed me out. I cried everyday afterword from the mistreatment. It didnt get better when I asked for reassignment to another unit. They won when the manager who hired me took her vacation and they forced me to resign or be fired. I was three weeks away from my probation ending. It makes me sick to this day, and it happened 4 months ago. I don't know what to do now, or where to try to work. I am scared that every job will be like this, and I thought Kaiser was the best in the biz?...

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